Xo. 4.] THE GYPSY MOTH. 87 



tion asked that some action be taken, and the Legislature 

 provided for a commission to take this matter in charge, and 

 appropriated $25,000. The commission was organized on 

 the 22d of March, 1890. They worked through the spring 

 of 1890, destroying great numbers of them, and in June 

 called upon the Legislature for another appropriation of 

 $25,000, which was granted. In February, 1891, this work 

 was placed in its present hands, and a few weeks later it was 

 put under the direction of the Board of Agriculture. So 

 you, gentlemen, are really responsible to the State of 

 Massachusetts for what has been done ; the committee 

 whom you have chosen have had this matter in charge. Your 

 committee was organized March 4, 1891. The first thing 

 they did was to call together the expert entomologists of the 

 country for advice, headed by Professor Riley of the Agricult- 

 ural Department at Washington, and Professor Fernald of 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural College. They advised us 

 that the only sure method of fighting the gypsy moth was by 

 spraying with Paris green, and that the whole territory 

 infested should be sprayed at the same time as nearly as 

 possible. At that time the creatures were in the egg form 

 only. The first thing to be done, of course, was to find 

 some one to take charge of the work, for, as the committee 

 were to serve without pay, they could not give their whole 

 time to the direction of the work. We were very fortunate, 

 as we believed and as experience has proved, in obtaining the 

 services of Mr. E. H. Forbush. Professor Fernald of the 

 Agricultural College was also engaged as consulting ento- 

 mologist. The next thing was to procure help. Here was 

 a territory of fifty to seventy-five square miles, infested by 

 this creature, which must be gone over, and of course 

 considerable help was required. It was necessary that we 

 should have men that were interested, that we should have 

 men who had some enthusiasm about the work, and would 

 carry it on with intelligence and vigor. Men who could be 

 hired for $1.25 or $1.50 a day would be of very little use to 

 us, because this work which needed to be done thoroughly 

 would be done by such men in a hap-hazard way. We could 

 not ero into the labor market and get such men as we wanted. 

 We engaged as many men as we could in the vicinity of the 



